The Great Depression was a pivotal factor in the collapse of the Weimar Republic due to the impacts
it placed on the Republic. The Republic was severely affected by the Great Depression through poor economic planning and reliance on short-term loans for long-term projects. The Treaty of Versailles forced upon Germany weakened them territorially and economically through the reparations, essentially ruining their economy. Without the Great Depression, the Weimar Republic could have possibly lasted, but this was not possible due to the social, political, and economic impacts it placed on Germany, which allowed the opposition of the Republic to take advantage of the situation, such as the rise of the Nazi Party.
The pressure that the Great Depression had on the Weimar Republic caused its collapse. After World
War, Germany never had a stable economic system which made it inevitable to survive when the
Depression hit, resulting in it being the final stage in the result of the Republic's collapse. Germany
relied on foreign investments greatly, in which when the Depression arose, it fell into financial and economic ruin. Their economy had no hope as they were still trying to repay the Treaty of Versailles agreements. Germany was forced to give surrender all their resources to the Allies, which was a part of the agreement. Within December 1922, Germany was unable to pay the demanded reparations. In March 1920, Putsch led a revolt that was aimed at destroying the Weimar Republic in order to ultimately form a right-wing government. This government worked for only a few days, from which the German civilians refused to cooperate with their demands. It was the Kapp Putsch and the failure to pay reparations that caused the uprising within the Ruhr in 1923. The German government approached the uprising by implementing 'passive resistance,' which resulted in disadvantaging Germany. From France's invaded the Ruhr, Germany was unable to pay back the reparations as they were no longer receiving much-needed resources. Due to the current financial complications, Germany applied a policy known as Hyperinflation, which instead of finally fixing the problem it instead worsened it. German currency was devalued; however, within 1924, from Gustav Stresemann's Dawes Plan, the Allies fixed reparations at a level within Germany's capacity to pay.
When the Great Depression hit, Germany lost all of its foreign loans causing numerous businesses
including banks shut down, and unemployment rose to six million by January 1933. The Weimar Republic might have been able to survive the Great Depression if they had stabilized their economy and invested in money elsewhere but due to the fact it was profoundly unstable, the collapse of the Weimar Government was inescapable. The Weimar constitution had various flaws in which set them up for an ultimate downfall. Article 48 allowed Presidential power to rule by emergency decree. It was a policy t...
